Method of stacking cartons



Dec. 4, 1962 R. R. BOARD 3,066,811

METHOD OF STACKING CARTONS Filed Sept. 14, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR. Aaamer K 301mb.

TTBRNEIJ Patented Dec. 4, 1962 3,066,811 METHOD F STAtIKlNG CARTONSRobert R. Board, Marion, 1nd, assignor to Foster-Forbes Glass Company,Marion, Ind, a corporation Filed Sept. 14, 1959, Ser. No. 839,914 3Claims. (Q1. 214-152) The present invention relates to a carton stackand to a method of forming the same.

In manufacturing and bottling plants and the like where materials areplaced in cartons, it is frequently the practice to stack the cartons onpallets for movement from place to place by lift trucks. One object ofthe present invention is to provide a carton stack and a method formaking the same which eliminate the necessity of using pallets. Afurther object is to provide a carton stack and method for making thesame which provide spaces for the insertion of the tines of a lift truckfor lifting the stack of cartons. Another object of the invention is toprovide a carton stack and method for making the same which reduce thetotal space occupied by the carton stack because there are no pallets totake up space. Still a further object is to provide a relativelyinexpensive carton stack and method for forming the same.

Still further related objects and advantages will become apparent as thedescription proceeds.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a carton stackincluding a plurality of spaced aligned cartons having closure flaps. Aplate, such as, for example, corrugated board, rests upon the upperedges of the cartons beneath the outer closure flaps. A furtherplurality of cartons are supported on said first plurality and hold theouter closure flaps downwardly against the plate.

It should be understood that the present invention may be used whetheror not there are contents within the cartons. For example, the presentinvention may find one utility in a glass bottle manufacturing plant.Empty bottles might be packed within cartons which cartons will bestacked according to the present invention for shipment to a bottlingplant. Alternatively, the invention might be used for stacking emptycartons to be moved to a packing location.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plurality of cartons arrangedaccording to a first step of the method forming the present invention.

FIG. 2 through 4 are perspective views of cartons and strips ofcorrugated board and showing further steps in the method forming thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a front elevation illustrating one form of carton stack formedaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front elevation of an alternative form of carton stackformed according to the present invention.

PEG. 7 is a perspective view of a further alternative form of cartonstack formed according to the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the method which forms a portion of thepresent invention is illustrated serially and comprises arranging aplurality of rectangular cartons 10-10 in two spaced parallel rows 11and 12. Each of the cartons 10 has a pair of closure flaps 15 which arefoldable about axes extending transversely of the rows. Closure flaps 15are the outer closure flaps of each of the boxes and are arranged abovethe remaining inner closure flaps 16-16 of each of the boxes. As can beseen from FIG. 1, each box or carton of one row is arranged directlyoppositely to a box in the other row.

Referring to FIG. 2, a plurality of elongated strips or plates 17 whichmay, for example, be formed of corrugated board, are placed across eachpair of oppositely located cartons beneath the closure flaps 15 of thecartons and in such a manner that each strip 17 extends outwardly ofeach opposite pair of cartons. Next, a tier of cartons 2t} composed ofthree rows of cartons, 21, 22 and 23, is supported upon the two rows ofcartons 11 and 12 in such a manner that the centermost 22 of said threerows rests upon both of the lower rows 11 and 12 and spans the spacebetween the two lower rows. This step is illustrated in FIG. 3. The twooutermost rows 21 and 23 rest upon the rows 11 and 12, respectively, andalso upon the end portions 25 and 26, respectively, of each strip 1'7.It can be seen that the rows 21, 22 and 23 will hold the closure flaps15 downwardly against the strips 17.

Further tiers of cartons and 31 are then stacked upon the tier 2% asillustrated in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the cartons of the various tiersmay be staggered as illustrated in FIG. 6 wherein the tiers 35, 36 and37 include irregularly arranged rows of cartons. Such an arrangementmay, in some cases, provide more strength and stability to the cartonstack.

Referring to FIG. 5, the stacking is continued similarly to that abovedescribed in that a further pair of rows 40 and 41' are arranged in aspaced parallel relationship upon the tier 31. Elongated strips 42 arepositioned beneath the closure flaps of the cartons in the rows 40 and41 and tiers of cartons 45, 46 and 47 are supported upon the rows 4d and4-1 and hold the closure flaps in rows 40 and 41 downwardly against thestrips 42. Further tiers 5t 51, 52 and 53 may be added, if desired, toform the completed carton stack 55. The advantage of having the tiers,such as 56, which have only two rows of cartons therein, interspersedthroughout the height of the stack, will become obvious from theexplanation which follows.

When the cartons are moved from place to place by lift truck, that is,of course, desirable that the cartons not be stacked too high in orderto eliminate the falling of the cartons from the lift truck. The stack55 in FIG. 5 will include sufficient cartons that the uppermost tier 53in the stack will be positioned near the ceiling of a building so thatas much as possible of the available storage space will be used. 5656represents the prongs of a three-pronged lift truck. These prongs may beinserted into the stack 55 to the position illustrated in FIG. 5 forlifting the uppermost portion of the stack. After the uppermost portionhas been moved, the centermost and lowermost portion of the stack maythen be moved. Thus, at no time does the number of cartons carried bythe lift truck extend sufficiently high to involve danger of the cartonstoppling from the lift truck.

When any portion of the stack 55 is lifted by the truck in the mannerabove described, the tines 56 will support the weight of the three-rowedtiers directly and through the elongated strips located below thethree-rowed tiers. The weight of the lowermost two-rowed tier will besupported through the strips and the closure flaps of the lowermosttier.

It can be seen that the present invention provides a carton stack andmethod for making the same which eliminates the necessity of usingpallets. it will be obvious from the above description that because ofthe fact that the corrugated strips are relatively inexpensive incomparison to the cost of pallets, a relatively inexpensive carton stackis provided by the present invention.

In FIG. 7 there is illustrated a further alternative form of theinvention which is identical to the above described form with theexception that in place of a single strip, such as the strip 17, a pairof strips 60-6tl is used for each oppositely positioned pair of cartonsin the tworowed tier 61 of the carton stack.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that allchanges and modifications that come within the spirit or" the inventionand the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected.

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of stacking cartons which comprises spacing and aligning apair of cartons having closure flaps, placing a rigid plate on andbridging said carton in such a manner that said plate extends outwardlyof said pair of cartons, closing the closure flaps of the cartons overthe bridging plate, and placing a further plurality of cartons on saidpair of cartons to hold said closure flap-s downwardly against saidplate.

2. A method of stacking cartons which comprises placing a plurality ofcartons having closure flaps in two, spaced parallel rows, with thecartons of one row opposite respective cartons of the other row,locating a plurality of rigid plates upon said cartons and across therows of cartons in such a manner that each plate extends outwardly ofeach opposite pair of cartons, folding the closure flaps of the catronsdownwardly over the plates, and placing a further plurality of cartonsupon the rows of cartons to hold the closure flaps downwardly againstthe plates.

3. A method of stacking cartons for lifting by a lift truck whichcomprises arranging a plurality of rectangular cartons in two spacedparallel rows, with each carton of one row located oppositely to acorresponding carton in the other row, each of said cartons having apair of closure flaps which are foldable about axes extendingtransversely of the rows, placing an elongated rigid strip of corrugatedboard across each pair of oppositely located cartons in such a mannerthat each strip extends outwardly of each opposite pair of cartons,fol-ding the closure fiaps of the cartons downwardly over the rigidstrip, supporting three rows of cartons upon said two rows with acentermost of said three rows resting on both of said two rows and withthe other two rows of said three rows each resting upon a respective oneof the first mentioned two rows and upon the end portions of saidstrips, and supporting a further plurality of cartons upon the threerows of cartons.

References Qited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,509,023 Vogel et a1 May 23, 1950 2,530,444 Wood Nov. 21, 1950 2,596,071Friesner May 6, 195 2 FOREIGN PATENTS 262,933 Switzerland .d Nov. 1,1914

